That was because I hadn’t seen that particular car in for fucking ever.
Nor the person that drove it.
“You okay?” Murphy asked.
I swallowed hard, watching, waiting, to see if she’d actually get out this time.
Juniper, the woman who I once thought was the love of my life, had been doing this to me since I’d gotten out of prison.
She’d drive by my place, idle in her car, and then leave before ever getting out.
Honestly, it was getting really fucking old.
Just when I’d go a day without thinking about her, she’d show up, and I was left wondering what in the hell she wanted.
This time, though, she surprised me by actually getting out.
Her eyes were wary as she took me and the old man in on the front porch.
She flicked her gaze to inside the store where the party was going strong, then looked back to me.
“Umm,” she hesitated. “I was wondering if I could talk to you.”
And Juniper was why I’d turned down Crockett to go to the wedding with the stepmother from hell.
Why?
Because Juniper had a stepmother of her own that she liked to appease.
One that gave her orders, and Juniper followed no matter what.
Why? Because the woman gave her money and controlled her bank account, and Juniper liked money more than she liked me, apparently.
So when her stepmother ordered her to kick me to the curb or lose her inheritance, she chose her inheritance.
But that didn’t explain why she was here right now.
Didn’t explain why she continuously came and watched me and never said anything.
“Go for it,” I suggested, shrugging as if I didn’t care.
And, in that moment in time, I realized that I didn’t.
At some point in the last six months, when Crockett came into the picture, I’d stopped caring about Juniper. I’d stopped thinking about her all day every day. I stopped wondering what she was doing. And stopped thinking ‘I wonder if she’s okay.’
Juniper was only ever on my mind if she showed up out of the blue like this.
And that had to do a lot with the fact that I was busy.
But it had more to do with the fact that Crockett was starting to occupy a lot of time in my mind, and there was just no room for Juniper and her inability to choose me anymore.
Before either I or Juniper could say anything more, though, the front door of the store was kicked open and Crockett came out onto the porch.
She looked at Juniper, then me and Murphy.
“Hello.” She smiled when she saw Juniper. “I’ve never seen you before. Are you with any of the boys?”
Juniper’s eyes went to me, and I physically saw Crockett’s shoulders drop.
Her eyes went blank, too.
I felt that look in my heart.
“Umm.” She smiled hesitantly. “Well, dinner is done. Murphy, do you need help inside?”
I watched as she wrapped a piece of paper towel around her thumb, holding it tightly with her other hand.
“In private, Zach?” Juniper’s soft voice filled the air behind me.
I hesitantly pulled my eyes off of Crockett for a short moment, then turned back to Juniper who was now tucking her hand behind her back and looking slightly flushed.
I frowned hard.
“Just say what you have to say, dear,” Murphy said. “I don’t think he’s going anywhere.”
Crockett bit her lip and walked past us, skirting past Juniper who was partially blocking the front path, and made a beeline toward her grandfather’s vehicle that never moved.
I watched her go and didn’t stop watching until she opened the trunk. She pulled something out of the back and placed it onto the now-closed trunk.
“Umm,” Juniper said. “I’d like to say… I’m sorry. I finally understand.”
My head whipped around and my eyes narrowed. “I’m sorry, what?”
“I’m sorry,” she repeated. “I’m sorry that you… I’m sorry I didn’t choose you. I’d like to make a different decision this time… if you give me a chance.”
I once again looked over to Crockett, only then realizing that she was doing something with the paper towel that was around her thumb.
I narrowed my eyes, then watched as she peeked inside of the towel at her finger, then wrapped it back up before reaching for something in the box.
“Are you listening to me, Zachariah?” Juniper snapped.
I looked to her and narrowed my own eyes. “Don’t call me that.”
I hated when she called me Zachariah. Like she was my mother and she was scolding her child for how he was acting.
“I’m sorry,” she immediately apologized.
And that was when I realized something.
There weren’t always hearts and rainbows when it came to Juniper. In fact, more often than not, it was fights and disagreements.
Shit.
How had I not seen that?
Crockett cursed and my eyes were once again drawn to her.
And, before I knew it, I was leaving Juniper behind and walking toward where the light above the parking lot was illuminating the area over Murphy’s car.